Socialized Airwaves; J. Emanualeson

Both can be bounded, claimed, and controlled either by private in dividuals or by governments. With respect to land,we have applied the private-property homestead principle. With respect to the air waves, we have resorted to socialism. . Imagine what the consequences might have been if, when this country was being settled, the gov ernment had zoned all land and leased it out by granting three year licenses. This would have been out-and-out socialism. Yet, this is exactly the situation that prevails with respect to the air waves in our supposedly capital istic society. Instead of resorting to social ism, radio frequencies could be considered as private property, 597 598 THE FREEMAN October with unclaimed radio frequencies subject to claim by anyone who has a transmitter and wants to use the unclaimed frequency. If a hobbyist wants to transmit televi sion signals on channel 4 in an area where that channel is un claimed, why shouldn't he be per mitted to do so? The homestead ing principle should be applied to the airwaves as well as to land.

Unowned frequency space could be claimed in the same manner that unowned land is claimed. Radio frequencies also could be bought and sold just as land is traded among willing buyers and sellers. If a hobbyist establishes sole claim to channel 4 in a given geographical area, any broadcast ing company that subsequently wants to use that frequency space should be free to try to buy or lease it from the hobbyist. With the current state of tech nology, there is plenty of fre quency space available for every one who is willing and able to buy or build a UHF radio transmitter. Except in a few metropolitan areas, nearly all of the· UHF tele vision channels are unused. Yet, just one of these UHF television channels contains enough fre quency space for 600 AM broad cast or two-way radio stations each with a range of 30 miles or so. Undoubtedly, much of this idle frequency space would be put to good use if the airwaves were a commodity on the open market.

As with any other scarce and valuable resource, putting the air waves on the free market would insure their most efficient and profitable use. A "radio-home steader" hobbyist would have the same incentive to sell or lease his frequency space to a broadcasting company as any land owner might have to sell or lease his land to a mining company if it contained rich mineral deposits. Strange that a country founded on the principles of private prop erty and the free market should ignore those principles in exploit ing the discovery of radio. ~ IDEAS ON LIBERTY Private Property BARBARISM has its earmarks, and the acquisition of property through conquest or superior force is notably one of them. Civili zation, too, has its earmarks, and the orderly disposition of property through the medium of deeds, leases, wills, and other contractual arrangements is not only an earmark of civilization but an absolute prerequisite.

EDW ARD P. SCHARFENBERGER The best way for a nation to build confidence in its curr,ency is not to bury lots of gold in the ground; it is, instead, to pursue responsible fi nancial policies. If a country does so consistently enough, it's likely to find its gold growing dusty from disuse. Editorial, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (July 8, 1969) GARY ·NORTH WHEN I read the above sentences for the first time, something clicked in my mind. That the con clusions drawn by the editorialist concerning the importance of gold for monetary purposes are opposed to my conclusions is neither here nor there. What is important is tha t within an editorial hostile to gold, the writer has hit upon one of the basic truths of the in ternational gold standard. The gatheTing of dust on a govern ment's stock of monetary gold is as good an indication of fiscal re sponsibility as 'would be the addi tion of gold dust to the stock.